Mountains

Mountains

I. INTRODUCTION
A
mountain is an elevated land mass usually higher than its surroundings. Some are isolated, but they usually appear in ranges(MsBs95W32). "A group of ranges closely related in form, origin, and alignment is a mountain system; an elongated group of systems is a chain; and a complex of ranges, systems, and chains continental in extent is a cordillera, zone, or belt."(MsBs95W32). Some mountains are remains of plateaus, mesas, and buttes, through erosion(Summerfield). Others are cones of volcanoes formed with igneous rock. Fault-block mountains occur where blocks of the earth's surface are raised relative to other neighboring blocks. Most of the great mountains are either fold mountains or complex structures formed by many different natural activities.
The ultimate cause of mountain building is only theoretical and abstract. Although, the plate tectonics is the first reasonable theory, stating that the crust of the earth breaks into several parts that eventually collide with another. Where they collide, stresses cause deformation and uplift of the land, which forms folded and/or faulted mountain chains. The highest point on earth, Mt. Everest, is also believed to have been formed by folding when the Australian-Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate.
II. TABLE OF CONTENTS
I INTRODUCTION
II TABLE OF CONTENTS
III. TYPES OF MOUNTAINS
1. VOLCANOES
2. FOLDING & FAULTING
3. RESIDUAL MOUNTAINS
IV. VOLCANO FORMATION
1. TYPES & NOMENCLATURE
2. PROC...

Mountains

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